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  1. #1
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    best food for joint support?

    hi guys
    so in my other thread i mentioned that maggie was diagnosed with some dysplasia and the beginnings of arthrirtis. she's only 5 so obviously we want to halt this right where it is as much as possible
    the vet mentioned some special food but i'm always leary of vet recommendations for food. what do you guys recommend? we're on Fromm wild game bird right now.

    and what do you do for supplements? cosequine?

  2. #2
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    I am not sure about a best food. My Emma has arthritis in her hips and spine. She gets Hylasport, vitamin c, Grizzly Salmon Oil daily and vitamin e, 3 times weekly. This has made a huge difference for her. Fromm is one of the foods I rotate along with Earthborn GF, Wellness Core and Infinia GF. I wouldn't change her food.
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  3. #3
    Senior Dog charliebbarkin's Avatar
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    Chicken feet. Trachea.
    Charlie and Burton


  4. #4
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    Stick with the Fromm Game Bird - how's the pups weight? Hill's has a joint support food that I wouldn't recommend ingredients wise, but I have seen it work miracles in dogs with joint issues - but again... It's Hill's.

    I use Annamaet Endure as a joint supplement. But I also like the Wholistic Pet's Run Free, etc. A lot of users here use and recommend Hylasport - great supplement, but too many ingredients for my super sensitive dog.

  5. #5
    Senior Dog shellbell's Avatar
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    It is not so much important to feed a food specific to helping the joints….it is important to feed so that weight gain is not an issue. The goal is to keep her lean if there are hip/joint issues. So really you can feed whatever you want and whatever she does well on, as long as you are able to control her weight.

    I feed raw and like CharlieB mentioned, things like chicken feet and trachea are great sources of glucosamine and chondroitin. And in general with raw, you feed lots of bone and connective tissue that is loaded with more joint support than kibble has. What I would not do, is feed a kibble that is marketed as being for joint support. I’ve read a couple of articles about this trend, one of them I think was in Dogs Naturally. The dog would have to be eating a TON of kibble every day in order to get a therapeutic dose of the joint support that the bag is claiming to have in it.

    Unless you are interested in switching to raw (not for everyone I know but I always like to mention it), I would continue to feed her the kibble she is on now if she is doing well. Look into joint support products from Springtime, Inc. They are whole foods supplements, and they are marketed with the idea that it is a good way to provide whole foods to supplement a kibble diet. I really like their Longevity, it has glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM and other good things in it. It is a powder you sprinkle on the food. Tastes good to the dogs, mine lick it up. They also have some chewable joint support products.

    Springtime Longevity for Dogs | Joint Supplement with Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM, Bee Pollen and Spirulina

  6. #6
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    I'm not certain most kibble foods that tout their glucosamine etc really have enough to make a huge difference. If you look at how much glucosamine, chondroitin, etc is in the food and if you can figure out how much they're getting per cup, you can figure out how much they're getting per day. Yep, math. If you compare that amount to the amount provided by most supplements, it's a pretty big difference. Not all foods tell you how much of either is in the food. I couldn't find the info for the food you're currently feeding.

    I'll take one example I could find. California Natural chicken and rice for senior dogs says it has added glucosamine and chondroitin. OK, so, the product info says this formula has 3557 Kcal per kg or 367 kcal per cup. I will just be rounding numbers off for ease of calculating this, so let's say, based on those numbers, that each kg of the food contains about 10 cups- 3557/367=~10 cups/kg. So, the bag also says it has Glucosamine 575 mg/kg and Chondroitin 475 mg/kg. That means each cup of food has approximately 57.5 mg of glucosamine and 47.5 mg of chondroitin. If your dog eats 2 cups per day, they'd get about 115 mg of gluc and 95 mg chondroitin. Compare that to the supplements that provide 900-1000 mg or more of glucosamine per dose. I'm pretty sure some people are using doses in the 1000-1500 mg range for each of those.

    The ortho vet I saw for Lark recommended Cosequin DS or Dasuquin with MSM. She said to specifically make sure it contained the MSM. Although some folks dose their dogs at doses higher than either of these contain, the vet said the company has proven their products contain what they claim to contain in the specified amounts, and that's what she wanted me to use. I also give Vitamin C and grizzly salmon oil every day, and now a couple of Vitamin E caps per week. There are other popular joint support supplement brands that I'm sure you've read on here, hylasport, glycoflex, even human versions of G/C/MSM from Walmart or Costco. One previous vet suggested we use the human version of Cosequin DS because it would be less than the vet version. I don't know if that's still true. I don't know how to quantify what would be found in actual human food, although I guess most humans aren't eating chicken feet or beef tracheas. I don't really have a source for those anyway.

  7. #7
    Senior Dog Nancy0's Avatar
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    I agree with adding a joint supplement. We also use Cosequin DS plus MSM for Niner (can get at Costco - 180 tablet bottle for 39.99 - cheapest I've seen). He has elbow dysplasia and it's a matter of time before arthritis sets in. He has done well on the Cosequin. Charlie also takes a joint supplement and seems to do well with Glycoflex II.

    Nancy

  8. #8
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    I think you can pick whatever food you think is best, no commercial kibble has enough of the supplements for arthritis. Pick a supplement to add to that food. We have been happy with Hylasport. My vet of course recommends Cosequin.

  9. #9
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    Agree that no kibble in and of itself will provide the supplements needed for joint health. Some people though find it makes a difference to feed kibble that is seafood based; plus potato is often mentioned as an ingredient to avoid due to having inflammatory effects. I've tried Hylasport, Annamaet Endure and now for the past 8 months Glyco-Flex II - which seems to be working the best.

  10. #10
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    We use JCTH from Innate Response and Ligaplex I, Ligaplex II and Boswelia Complex from Standard Process. It depends on the dog.

    Acupuncture is great for arthritis as well.

 



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